Taken by Duncan Willetts

We offer Special Resident Rates.

This spectacular setting is perfect for weddings and functions.

There is also a self catering cottage next to the Castle

Please contact us for further information and specials for large groups or other enquiries and we will try to accommodate you.

 RESERVATIONS :

Vicky Hill

Cell: +254 733 944 234 or Email:  groganscastle@gmail.com

Owner:  Hon Basil Criticos

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AIRSTRIP BEHIND GROGAN'S CASTLE HILL

AND THE AIRSTRIP
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MT. KILIMANJARO FROM THE PLUNGE POOL

Accommodation

Grogan’s Castle is situated below Mt Kilimanjaro on a hill top with stunning 360 degree views of the Pare Mountains, Lake Jipe, Tsavo National Park and obviously Mt Kili!  There are five huge en-suite double bedrooms (or family as extra beds can be added).  Each room is unique and tastefully decorated in the theme of that era – all have majestic views.  There is a plunge pool with magnificent views of Mt Kilimanjaro and the Pare Mountains.

There is also a self catering guest cottage that sleeps 4-6.

How to get there

Grogan’s Castle is about 20 kms south-west of Taveta town on the Kenya-Tanzania border. By road it is a five hour drive from Nairobi, turning south at Imali to Loitokitok, then turning left and follow the road to Taveta passing Lake Challa. Or Through the game park take the Mtito Andei gate and head for the Ziwani Gate near taveta. OR Voi take the Mwatate road to Taveta. From the coast, it can be reached through Tsavo West National Park exiting at the Lake Jipe Park gate or turning off at Voi. From Arusha it is a 2 hour drive through the Taveta Border take the Voi road and there are sign posts on the road.

There is a dirt airstrip 1,200 meters in length adjacent to the Castle…coordinates are available.

History

Built in the 1930's“Part monastery, part Moorish fort and part hacienda it was approached via a road which snakes its way up the hill and deposited visitors at the foot of broad steps leading to an arch in which wrought-iron entrance gates were later set. Beyond the gates was a central courtyard with a fountain and flowerbeds.”
Lost Lion of Empire - Edward Paice

 Col Ewart Grogan
“Once met, never forgotten”

Ewart Grogan, dubbed "the boldest and badest of a bold, bad gang" of pioneering settlers in Kenya, was a gentleman adventurer possessed of magnetic charm, a formidable intellect and a near boundless ego.

He built Grogan's Castle in the mid 1930's and lived there until the late 1950's.  Born in 1874, Col Grogan died on 16th August 1967 in a small flat in Rondebosch, South Africa - despite his wish to spend his last days at the Castle.

Ewart Grogan fell in love with Gertrude Watt, the sister of a Cambridge classmate, but her stepfather disapproved of the match; while Grogan came from a respectable family, his own life had little to recommend it. He proposed becoming the first man to make the Cape to Cairo journey; the stepfather agreed that this would be a suitable test of his character and seriousness.

He commenced his expedition from Cape Town to Cairo at the age of 24, reaching Cairo in 1900, after two and a half years of travelling. He had been stalked by lions, hippos, and crocodiles, pursued by headhunters and cannibals, plagued by parasites and fevers.

He returned home a popular sensation. He was made a fellow of the Royal Geographic Society and met Queen Victoria. In four months of effort, Grogan wrote about his journey in From the Cape to Cairo; the first traverse of Africa from south to north (1902).

Capping his success, he married Gertrude.  He built and named a children’s hospital after her when she died - called Gertrude’s Children’s Hospital which is still situated  and operating in Muthaiga, Kenya.

"Not only is the whole Hospital his gift to the children of East Africa, but his personal interest, drive and perseverance have been largely instrumental in thrashing the way through all the regulations and controls which make construction work such a nightmare to the ordinary citizen" From a report on the progress of the Gertrude's Garden Children's Hospital, given by Mrs. F.O.B Wilson in January 1947, shortly before the establishment of the Hospital.